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For Immediate Release

Do Disruptions in Brain Communication Have a Role in Autism?

New Rochelle, NY, March 21, 2013—A new study of patterns of brain communication in toddlers with autism shows evidence of aberrant neural communication even at this relatively early stage of brain development. The results are presented in an article in Brain Connectivity, a bimonthly peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Brain Connectivity website.

A team of researchers from The Netherlands (University Medical Center Utrecht and Utrecht University, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, and VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam) compared electroencephalography (EEG) recordings from young children with and without autism. The researchers evaluated the patterns of communication between various functional neural networks in the brain that aid in the processing and integration of information.

"This work provides support to the hypothesis that autism is a disorder of connectivity," says Christopher Pawela, PhD, Co-Editor-in-Chief and Assistant Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin. "The researchers demonstrated that autistic children’s brains have both reduced brain connectivity and a diminished capacity for neural communication. This is an interesting finding and has impact on the understanding of the abnormal brain development in autistic children.”

About the JournalBrain Connectivity is the journal of record for researchers and clinicians interested in all aspects of brain connectivity. The Journal is under the leadership of Founding and Co-Editors-in-Chief Christopher Pawela, PhD and Bharat Biswal, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. It includes original peer-reviewed papers, review articles, point-counterpoint discussions on controversies in the field, and a product/technology review section. To ensure that scientific findings are rapidly disseminated, articles are published Instant Online within 72 hours of acceptance, with fully typeset, fast-track publication within four weeks. Tables of content and a sample issue can be viewed on the Brain Connectivity website.

About the PublisherMary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative medical and biomedical peer-reviewed journals, including Journal of Neurotrauma and Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 70 journals, newsmagazines, and books is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.